Coronavirus in Ohio: Lawmakers recommend release of about 141 non-violent inmates near end of sentences

Jessie Balmert, Cincinnati Enquirer

Tuesday

Apr 14, 2020 at 2:38 PM

A panel of Ohio lawmakers has approved the release of about 141 inmates nearing the ends of their sentences amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. Mike DeWine had asked the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers, to recommend the early release of 141 prisoners. Each one was within 90 days of being released. None were convicted of violent or sex offenses.

The group met Tuesday at the Ohio Statehouse and unanimously recommended the early release of inmates because of overcrowding. Nearly 49,000 inmates are housed in state prisons.

"The list that was given to us, 141, is just a drop in the bucket," said Rep. Erica Crawley, D-Columbus. "We know that this crisis continues. We have already had the death of an inmate and a death of a staff member."

Marion Correctional Institution officer John Dawson, 55, died last week after testing positive for the disease. The Mansfield man had an underlying health condition.

Inmate Charles Viney Jr., 66, was the first Ohio prisoner to die after testing positive for COVID-19, DeWine announced Monday. Convicted of murder, the Pickaway Correctional Institution inmate would not have been eligible for early release.

Ohio prison officials are testing inmates at 10 facilities, including Marion Correctional Institution and Pickaway Correctional Institution, which have seen the most cases of the novel coronavirus.

Of the 141 prisoners eligible for early release, three are from Marion Correctional Institution and two are from Pickaway Correctional Institution.

Prisoners will not be released if they test positive for COVID-19 unless they are being handed off to a health care provider, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Annette Chambers-Smith told the committee.

Those eligible for early release are being tested and separated from the rest of the inmates, she added. Those who are released will be supervised.

"We’re trying to do everything we can to make a safe release for Ohio," Chambers-Smith said.

The committee's vote comes as groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, push to release more inmates. Social distancing, which has helped to reduce cases in Ohio, isn’t possible in state prisons.

As of Monday afternoon, 146 inmates and 119 staff members had tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

DeWine has also asked local judges to release some inmates, including pregnant women, early and requested speedy hearings before the Ohio Parole Board for older inmates with chronic health conditions.

Prison changes under COVID-19

Chambers-Smith also gave an update on how Ohio's prisons were addressing COVID-19 to keep staff and prisoners safe.

Staff were given three masks, but that's not enough, she said. Personal protective equipment, such as gowns and shields, is being sent to prisons with confirmed cases of COVID-19 first.

Prisoners are making splatter masks, surgical masks, gowns and hand sanitizer to address some of the need. Ohio's prisons had purchased items from a Chinese company, but that shipment has been delayed multiple times, Chambers-Smith told lawmakers.

One woman told the Columbus Dispatch that inmates were being moved into an unheated gymnasium with one toilet and one phone. Ohio's prisons are working on adding portable toilets and showers to larger spaces to provide some social distancing, Chambers-Smith said. She didn't think any inmate was living in the gyms to date.

Inmates, who are receiving less time outdoors, will have access to free movies and video games. Prisons are serving food in different ways to minimize contact.

"Is it optimal? No," Chambers-Smith said. "Is it safe and are people being taken care of? Yes."

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